Rock-salt nuggets from all over the Maine roads …

Michael Wardian, U.S. elite multi-marathoner and ultra-marathoner, will be running the MDI Marathon on Oct. 16, race director Gary Allen said.

Wardian’s marathon best is an Olympic Trials-qualifier, 2 hours, 17 minutes and 49 seconds. He won a silver medal and led the U.S. men to team gold at the World 100K Championships last month, and it should be fascinating to see how Wardian, 37, does on the famously hilly course from Bar Harbor to Southwest Harbor.

Ellsworth’s Louie Luchini set the course record of 2:31:54 last year, and there have been only two sub-2:20s run in Maine, both in the ’80s.

“CREEK SURROUNDINGS, Gravel Surface, Medium Difficulty, Road Surface, Rolling Climb Contour, Rough Terrain, Scenic Surroundings, Sidewalk Surface, Trail Surface, Urban Area.” Phew!

This new event is the Easy As Pi 3.14-miler in Portland on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 9 a.m. The race, sponsored by Woodard & Curran and benefitting its foundation supporting employees’ charitable causes, covers a “Pi” distance, a nice touch by the engineering firm. That’s about .033 longer than standard 5Ks (those measured and laid out correctly, anyway).

Advertisement

The race starts at Hutchins Drive on outer Congress, heads east on the roads, then turns right into River’s Edge Drive and ducks onto the Stroudwater trail to the finish (www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/43690542 has details.)

Preregistration is $15 (see woodardcurranfoundation.org), race day it’s $20. Top prizes are glass pie plates with the race logo, perfect for hoisting like a women’s winner at Wimbledon; the 150 T-shirts include 50 for volunteers. Whole Foods is supplying pie (pumpkin, apple and cherry).

SPEAKING OF FILLING, next Sunday’s Maine Marathon, Half Marathon and Marathon Relay capped out at 3,500 on Sept. 16. Nice. I heard that news at about Mile 5 of last Saturday’s Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Half Marathon, which was won by Robert Ashby of Brunswick in 1:18:39, and Amanda LaBelle of Rock-land in 1:27:37, sixth among 288 finishers (not counting 81 early-start walkers). …

If you’re grumbling because you missed out on the Maine half, the MAINEiacs Charities Half Marathon, reviving a race from the ’80s, is on for Sunday, Oct. 9, in Bangor.

The course is an out-and-back from the Holiday Inn on Odlin Road. (See the Sub5 page on Facebook for a map.) The fee is very fair, $25, with t-shirts for the first 100. Sign up at www.runreg.com (search Maineiacs), or on race day beginning at 7 a.m. …

Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford is holding its Be Healthy 5K Run/Walk, to benefit the new Center for Breast Care, on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 9 a.m.

Advertisement

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. on the Eastern Trail near the SMMC parking lot. Sign up online at www.smmc.org. The fee is $20 for runners, $15 for walkers. For more info, call Rebecca Wright at 283-7251.

Staff writer John Rolfe can be reached at 791-6429 or at:

jrolfe@pressherald.com

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.